I think that this mentality is because people don't see their device as consisting of various different components acquired separately, they view it as one devi

I think that this mentality is because people don't see their device as consisting of various different components acquired separately, they view it as one device with functionality that is sometimes insufficient and needs to be supplemented. Somewhere in their head they view the purchase of their physical device as the payment to get everything they want out of it. I think that people often view software not as providing features but as fixing bugs. They aren't getting the ability to do X, they're fixing the fact that their device doesn't already do X. Second, people seem to be more comfortable paying for something that they invested in. Driving to a store and standing in line is physical investment and it makes sense that the person on the other side of the counter wants something of value for the exchange. But browsing for an app takes all of a few seconds and once you find it. Also, I think that people view app ownership as different from physical ownership. The app developer reserves the right to do anything he wants with the app in the future, so the app could change or get a UI the user likes less. The app may have extra levels of payment inside of it for more content. The app won't transfer from their Android device to their iOS device or to their laptop, it's locked into that one platform. The app may be obsolete on their next device anyway. And they can't even share it with a friend if they wanted to. Contrast that with coffee. You know exactly what you're getting and you can do anything you want with it at any time. They can give it to a friend if they want to. You get this warm fuzzy feeling that, once you hold the cup, nothing can deprive you of the full benefit of the coffee in the way you want it and you expect to get it. On an intellectual level, it really is silly that people are so resistant to paying for apps, but I think there are a lot of subtle factors at work in the average user dissuading them from doing so.